The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically to mechanisms for coordinating problem resolution in complex systems using disparate information sources.
As technology improves, advantages provided by such improved technologies tend to lead to products/systems that become increasingly complex. In a number of industries, including the middleware-based software industry, products/systems are increasingly constructed by integrating discrete components, e.g., databases, application servers, open source software packages, and the like. While this leads to economies of scale in design and construction, a larger portion of problems/faults with these systems are complex to diagnose due to the interaction between these discrete components. Resolving issues that arise in these systems often requires a deep knowledge in one or more areas, such as performance, third party integration, and the like, as well as an overall knowledge of the products/systems. Staffing traditional support/customer service personnel having the required knowledge to diagnose all of the possible sources of problems/faults is not always economical, whether considering small or large organizations.
For example, FIG. 1 is an example diagram illustrating a typical information flow within an information technology (IT) organization to resolve a problem in a complex system. In FIG. 1, arrows on lines in the diagram between entities are indicative of the direction in which communication is initiated. The boxes in FIG. 1 represent particular entities with which communication is performed to try to resolve the problem within the complex system.
Modern organizations provide a myriad of ways for employees to communicate with each other. Common examples include electronic mail (email), instant messaging, web-based discussion forums, and the like. These different forms of communication can be used both for formal channels of communication and informal channels of communication. In FIG. 1, solid lines represent formal channels of communication, e.g., referral/escalation using established policies and mechanisms specified by the organization such as generating an electronic trouble ticket, transferring the electronic trouble ticket, etc., whereas dashed lines represent informal channels of communication between entities, e.g., instant messaging, web-based discussions, etc. with colleagues or the like.
Thus, in the depicted example of FIG. 1, a customer 110 or on-site professional services 120 may report a fault of the complex system to a level 1 support team 130 and try to resolve the fault using formal communication channels. In addition, the customer 110, professional services 120, and even the level 1 support team 130 may communicate informally with subject matter experts 140 to try to resolve the fault. The subject matter experts 140 may themselves contact a product development team 150 to obtain their expertise regarding the possible source and solution to the fault through informal communication channels.
Not being able to resolve the fault at the level 1 support team 130, the fault resolution may be escalated to the level 2 support team 160 who may also consult the subject matter experts 140 through informal communication channels. If the fault is not able to be resolved at this level, the fault resolution may again be escalated to a level 3 support team 170 who may communicate with the subject matter experts 140 via informal communication channels and the product development team 150 directly using formal communication channels.
An advantage of having a rich communication network that uses both formal and informal communication channels is that this can often lead to problem/fault resolution more quickly than having to rely solely on formal business processes and communication channels alone. This is because individuals can leverage their professional network to access the knowledge of other individuals that may not be part of the formal communication channels or may be at a different level in the formal communication channel and who can be accessed earlier in the problem/fault resolution process through informal communication channels. Moreover, these other individuals may be located in different time zones and even continents and the benefits of such geographically dispersed personnel can be used to resolve problems/faults more quickly. For example, a consultant in North America may be able to confer with a colleague in the Asia Pacific region of the world, who they met at a conference, overnight (North America time) to resolve a problem before the next working day.
A disadvantage of the rich communication networks is that the resolution of a problem is often uncoordinated despite good intentions of all concerned. For example, when describing a problem to a support team, a customer may limit the problem description to only that team's product. The broader system context may be important to the resolution of the problem, but it may not be obvious to the person describing the issue, and challenging for the person receiving the problem report to always know what to ask to get that context. Moreover, as a problem report gets escalated or transferred from one person to another within the organization, information may be lost in the transfer from one person to another or may need to be repeated, leading to more difficulty in resolving the problem and more frustration on the persons involved in the resolution of the problem.
Another disadvantage is that some problems are not accurately prioritized due to the various discussions of the problem at various levels of the problem resolution process not being correlated. This can lead to the a situation such as described in the well known story of the “blind men and the elephant” where each person has knowledge of only a part of the overall situation and these parts may lead to different conclusions as to the nature of the problem and its resolution. As a result, the persons involved in the resolution of the problem may not adequately realize the correct priority or severity of the problem and its resolution.